CrossFit Open 2019: 19.1, WODs, announcements — We're all mad here

Athletes from CrossFit 239 work out on Wednesday afternoon in Fort Myers. The 2019 CrossFit Open will be announced Thursday evening, and the gym will host the Open workout on Friday.
Amanda Inscore, AINSCORE@NEWS-PRESS.COM

There is such a thing as a quiet CrossFitter. But even we quiet ones are all sorts of crazy.

How do you know if someone does CrossFit? Don't worry, they'll tell you.

Or so the punchline goes.

Like marathon runners or New England Patriots fans, CrossFitters have a bit of reputation for being ... obnoxious devoted.

Alison Cowdin works out at CrossFit 239 on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Fort Myers. The gym is one of many across the world preparing for the 2019 CrossFit Open.(Photo: Amanda Inscore/The News-Press USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA)

As a "devoted" CrossFitter (for going on seven years now), I have to say we're not all so expressive. My Instagram feed is 99 percent CrossFit free. I'm far more devoted obnoxious about my dogs and kids.

And I know I'm not alone.

I'm here to speak for the quiet CrossFitters out there (like the Lorax, with thicker thighs), for those of us ripping our palms and PR-ing our snatches with nary a hashtag to show for it.

This is the time of year when we quiet CrossFitters are especially overshadowed by our more zealous counterparts. The CrossFit Open kicks off tonight with simultaneous live-stream announcements taking place from the United Kingdom, France and Brazil.

Imagine 400,000-some people competing in an Ironman at the same time. That's the craziness of the CrossFit Open. It's five weeks of worldwide workouts that help determine who (spoiler alert: not me) gets to go to the CrossFit Games in August.

If ever there was a time to mute your crazy CrossFit friends, it is now. (You can love them and still mute them, I checked the rule book.)

Soon the more "devoted" among us will be clogging social media with WOD speculations (that's "workout of the day" in lay speak), our thoughts on 19.1, thruster strategies and burpee gripes (a sport in and of itself).

Sarina Clark, left, and Alison Cowdin do handstand walks at CrossFit 239 on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. The gym is one of many across the world preparing for the 2019 CrossFit Open.(Photo: Amanda Inscore/The News-Press USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA)

This will make no sense to non-CrossFitters, but it will consume our waking moments and seep into our dreams.

The thing about CrossFit is, we're all some kind of nuts.

My crazy's just quieter.

Sane people don't panic over pull-up techniques or rowing efficiency. They don't rush-ship a new, lighter jump rope ('cause yeah that'll fix it). They don't spend $20 each winter to see where in the CrossFit world they stack up (I placed 46,026th in the 2018 Open, right behind Tawnya Ruby of the U.S. and just ahead of Italy's Laura Manotta. (they've never heard of me either)).

We may not all post non-stop about CrossFit, but, quiet or not, trust me: We are all positively mad.

Annabelle Tometich usually writes about food, but sometimes sneaks in a little something about CrossFit. She hopes to crack into the 45,000s in the 2019 Open, a hope built on little more than fairy dust and rainbows.Connect with this reporter: @ATometich (Twitter)

CrossFit Open 2019: 19.1 WOD announcement

Workout 19.1, the first WOD of the 2019 CrossFit Open, will be announced at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21. Go to games.crossfit.com to watch organizers in Brazil, France and the United Kingdom announce the standards and movements.